wave all inquiry or conjecture on the subject, and says, that both the date of these monuments, and the object of their construction, are lost in the night of past ages. He also observes, that we cannot too much admire the accuracy of the pyramidal structure, and the permanency secured by their form and construction. The ruins of the temple of Tentyra may be considered as the most scientific remains of antiquity to be seen in those regions, being, of all the Egyptian monuments, the most perfect in point of execution, and apparently constructed in the happiest periods of the arts and sciences. Every thing in this superb structure is important-every thing interesting, as well as highly finished. The cœlestial planisphere, which adorns the ceiling, clearly indicates the astronomical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians; and all the hieroglyphics, besides being admirably executed, evidently relate to scientific objects. But of all the Egyptian ruins, the stupendous monuments of Thebes, from their number, their colossal magnitude, and the wide extent over which they are spread, strike the spectator with the greatest astonishment; and, in connection with ancient fame, excite the most sublime ideas. This abandoned place, where are seen the most magnificent monuments of ancient grandeur, surrounded with barbarism, enveloped in the veil of mystery, and the obscurity of ages, impresses the mind, as Denon says, with such gigantic phantoms, that the whole French army, which marched into Upper Egypt, "suddenly, and with one accord, stood in amazement at the sight of its scattered ruins."§ A critical account of those stupendous monuments of the earliest ages, which have employed so many learned pens and ingenious pencils, will not here be expected. In this cursory sketch of nations, such a glance must suffice as may give some general idea of this ancient metropolis of a kingdom so universally celebrated, but so little known. "The situation of Thebes" says Denon, “is as fine as can well be imagined; and the immense extent of its ruins, convinces the spectator that fame has not magnified its size; for the diameter of Egypt not being sufficient to contain it, † Ibid. vol. 1. p. 271. # 1bid. vol. 2. p. 312 to 319.-vol. 3. p. 4 to 8. § Ibid. vol. 2. p. 84.

Denon's Trav. vol. 1. p. 256.

its monuments rest upon the two chains of mountains, which are contiguous, whilst its tombs occupy the valleys towards the west, far on into the desert. Four large hamlets divide amongst them the remains of the ancient monuments of Thebes; whilst the river, by the sinuosity of its course, seems still proud of flowing among its ruins."* The principal of these are, first, the great temple of Karnac, built in the form of a parallelogram of a vast extent, with a colonnade at each extremity, and the massy columns and walls covered with hieroglyphics, a work of stupendous labour. This immense. temple, now in ruins, requires half an hour to walk round it.‡ All that remains in any tolerable degree of perfection, is a small sanctuary. Of the 100 columns of the portico alone, the smallest are seven feet and a half, and the largest twelve in diameter. Besides this, there is also another, as well as numerous avenues of sphinxes, and other ruins on the cast side of the Nile. On the west side are large colossal statues of sixty or sixty-five feet high; the remains of a large temple, with excavations in the rock; the magnificent edifice called the palace of Memnon, the columns and walls covered with hieroglyphics; and the celebrated caverns, known as the scpulchres of the ancient kings of Thebes, which have been visited by Pocock and Denon, and accurately delineated, as well as minutely described by both these travellers. § A late traveller of our own country, in speaking of Thebes, says, "The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of ancient Thebes, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms the classical observations; and Homer's animated description rushes into the memory. These venerable ruins, probably the most ancient in the world, extend for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and west they reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The river is here about 300 yards broad. The circumference of the ancient city must therefore have been

• Denon's Trav. vol. 2. p. 84, 85, &c.

† Browne's Trav. p. 144, 145.

Denon, vol. 2. p. 257. § Browne's Trav. p. 145. See Pocock's and Denon's Plates.

about twenty-seven miles."* Pocock, Norden, Denon, and all travellers who have visited those immortal ruins, speak of them in terms of ecstatic admiration. The latter of these writers observes, that nothing is seen here but temples, not a vestige of other buildings of public utility or convenience: and although travellers have given to a part of these ruins the name of the palace of Memnon, he candidly owns that he could discover no traces of a royal residence. These circumstances corroborate the testimony of ancient history in regard to the sacerdotal government of Egypt. "Notwithstanding," says Denon, "all the pains which I took in the research, I could find nothing but temples, walls covered with obscure emblems and hieroglyphics, which attested the ascendency of the priesthood, who still seemed to reign over these mighty ruins, and whose empire constantly haunted my imagination "Every thing, indeed, that relates to the history and antiquities of Egypt, indicates a gloomy and mysterious government of allpowerful priests, ruling with despotic sway an enslaved king and people. If, however, we consider that the monarch was always of the sacerdotal order,§ that every action of his life was under the control of the priests, and a great part of his time employed in religious duties, it is no improbable conjecture that one part of the same edifice might serve as a temple of the gods, and another as the palace of the monarch and the apartments of his counsellors, or more properly speaking, his governors. In such case the remains of the palace cannot be distinguishable from those of the temple.¶ In ancient Egypt every thing was enveloped in the mysterious veil of religion. From all that history relates of its government, we can scarcely form any other idea of the Egyptian court than that of an immense monastery. In another point of view, how

Browne's Trav. p. 144.

† Denon, however, as well as several other modern travellers, entirely explodes the fable of the sounding statue of Memnon. Trav. vol· 2. p. 94, 95.

Denon's Trav. vol. 2. p. 194.

§ Plutarch de Iside et Osiride.

f Diod. Sicul. lib. 1.

This idea is rendered more probable by the modern example of the Escurial, which contains not only the royal palace, but also a church and a monastery. See Swinburne, Townsend, and other travellers.

ever, it is no wonder that, after such a lapse of ages, no vestiges of private buildings remain. The habitations of the people soon perish in so temperate a climate as Egypt, they were in ancient times, as well as at present, in all probability exceedingly slight; and we know not in what manner the great constructed their palaces. But temples have in all ages and countries been built for durability. Their massy walls and columns are alone able to resist the assaults of time. Should modern Europe ever experience the fate of ancient Egypt, and to be buried under the wreck of her arts, her science, and her civilization, her immense gothic cathedrals would exhibit stupendous ruins to a wondering world long after the lapse of ages had annihilated the other monuments of her present splendor.*

* Denon thinks that the immense temples of Thebes, the vast colossal statues, &c. were built about the time of Sisostris, when the flourishing condition of the Egyptians first gave birth to the arts among them, and when the pride of power preferred magnitude to every other perfection. He ascribes the temples of Tentyra and Etfu to a later period, when the arts had attained to a state of greater refinement. Trav. vol. 2. p. 258, &c.

CHAP. II.

Principal cities and towns....Edifices.....Islands.

CAIRO, or Kahira, the metropolis of modern Egypt, is situ

ated at the distance of less than a mile from the eastern bank of the Nile; and the two suburbs, Misr-el-Atliké and Bulak, extend quite to the river. This city stands at the north-west point of that extensive chain of mountains which runs along the course of the Nile through Upper Egypt. Towards the north a plain extends to the Delta, which it resembles in soil and productions.* On approaching Cairo from the Delta it appears to great advantage. Numerous minarets surrounding Mount Motam, with Old Cairo, Bulac, and Roda, appearing at some distance as one continued town, gives this metropolis of Egypt an imposing aspect. But on a nearer approach the illusion vanishes, and every thing resuming as it were its proper position and appearance, an European eye discovers nothing but a vast heap of villages collected together near an arid rock. The houses in general are inelegant, the streets narrow and irregular. The narrowness of the streets, however, although disagreeable to an eye accustomed to view the elegant cities of Europe, appears necessary to an inhabitant of Cairo. A slight canopy extended from one side to the other, protecting him from the fierce effulgence of the meridian sun, affords a more substantial pleasure than could be derived from wide and uniform streets, or a grand display or architectural prospects. The houses, however, in general are built of stone, two, or sometimes three stories high, and have flat roofs. The windows of the upper stories are laticed, the ground floor being either a shop, or having no windows next Denon's Trav. vol. 1. p. 258.

Browne's Trav. ch. 5. p. 51.

‡ Ibid. ubi supra.